INDIANAPOLIS — When you need to stick a field goal through the swirling winds of Pittsburgh, a little experience helps.

Ben Sauls is hoping to play his first season in the NFL next year. But kicking at Acrisure Stadium? The Pittsburgh Panthers standout has been doing that for five years.

Last season, Sauls was 11-for-13 on home field goals (21-for-24 overall) and perfect on extra points in one of the most notorious stadiums for adverse kicking conditions.

“To be honest with you, I love Acrisure Stadium, and that’s always going to be home for me,” he told reporters at the NFL scouting combine this week. “But it’s great for the resume. And I’m looking forward to kicking in multiple stadiums.”

The Steelers aren’t looking for a kicker. But soon the Ravens might be.

With an NFL investigation ongoing into his alleged inappropriate sexual behavior, Justin Tucker’s future in Baltimore is up in the air. If Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta — who called allegations against Tucker serious and concerning this week — winds up cutting ties with the most accurate kicker in NFL history, the Ravens could be in the market for a new one for the first time in more than a decade.

“Justin is our kicker. I love him, and I always expected him to keep going forever,” coach John Harbaugh said this week. “But nobody goes forever. We’ve got to look at every position.”

Tucker has denied the allegations in multiple statements, including one released this week.

“I maintain I did not act inappropriately at any point before, during, or after a professional bodywork treatment session, nor have I ever been told I am unwelcome at any massage therapy provider. These claims are simply not true,” he said.

“It devastates me to know that anyone I have worked with would not have felt respected and valued as a professional, but more importantly as a person, and to anyone who has felt otherwise, I am sorry,” Tucker added.

Kicker is not a particularly vaunted position at the NFL combine. As big names at glamour positions spoke at elevated podiums, the potential specialists spoke to the media from tables at ground level.

But the value of a good kicker is not lost on any NFL team, particularly the Ravens, who saw Tucker struggle this past season (73.3%). One of Tucker’s roughest games was at Pittsburgh, where he was 1-for-3 on the same windy day the Steelers’ Chris Boswell was 5-for-5, allowing the home team to win without scoring a touchdown.

Sauls, who was 6-for-7 on field goals 50 yards and longer last year, admitted it’s “surreal” to be looking to compete with specialists he’s grown up admiring. But that admiration doesn’t diminish his confidence.

“But it’s time that I understand that I’m here for a reason,” he said. “There’s 32 spots and I’m a competitive guy, so I want one of them.”

Sauls is one of a handful of kickers who has been held up by draft evaluators as an NFL prospect this year. Players at the position traditionally are picked on the third day of the draft. Combine attendees included Florida State’s Ryan Fitzgerald, Arizona’s Tyler Loop and Miami’s Andres Borregales.

Fitzgerald led the NCAA in points as a junior and was 32-for-34 in his last two seasons. Borregales missed just one field goal and was perfect on extra points for the Hurricanes. Loop’s big leg — he’s 6-for-8 from 50-plus yards in the last two seasons — is probably his biggest asset.

The field is so small, the market so competitive that the kickers know one another fairly well by the end of the combine process — one Fitzgerald described as “speed dating” (he and Sauls acknowledged meeting with all 32 trams). But they also aren’t shy about trying to get a leg up, so to speak.

“Really just trying to prove I’m the best one here,” Fitzgerald said, flanked by his fellow specialists. “That goes for making kicks, accuracy, being able to hit the long ball, versatility — just trying to show each one of those areas.”

Taking a kicker in the draft can be hit or miss. All three kickers picked in the 2024 draft started for their teams, going a combined 80-for-93 on field goals (86%). But Tucker was undrafted out of Texas in 2012, and of the four kickers who were drafted ahead of him that year, only the Jets’ Greg Zuerlein is still in the NFL.

The Ravens are expected to have 11 draft picks this April once compensatory picks are awarded, which may raise the likelihood they use one of those selections on a kicker. At least one kicker has been taken in every draft since 2015.

Sauls mentioned Boswell, who was first-team All-Pro in 2024, as someone he looks up to. After all, Sauls is uniquely positioned to understand Boswell’s weekly challenges at his own home field.

“I respect the crap out of him,” Sauls said. “To watch him do what he did at [Acrisure] — I just want to be like him, to be honest.”

If the Ravens draft a kicker, Sauls might get a chance to test himself against Boswell — toe to toe.